Posted on 08/27/2002 5:47:49 AM PDT by CholeraJoe
Augusta kids killed
By CAROLYNN BRIGHT, IR Staff Writer - 08/27/02
Swanson faces 2 counts of murder.
A 46-year-old Augusta mother allegedly shot and killed two of her four children as they slept in their beds at the family ranch about 15 miles southwest of Augusta early Monday.
Jeanette Swanson faces two counts of deliberate homicide in connection with the shootings and is being held in the Lewis and Clark County Jail without bond.
Swanson was placed on suicide watch at the jail Monday afternoon while the bodies of her children — a 10-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy — were brought to the State Crime Lab in Missoula, where an autopsy will be conducted, said Undersheriff Cheryl Liedle.
According to Liedle, emergency responders flocked to the Swanson Ranch just before 6 a.m. after Swanson called 911, reporting that she had shot her two children.
Swanson’s other two children — boys, ages 16 and 20 — were in the house at the time of the killing, but were unharmed in the incident.
Swanson’s husband, Gene, was sleeping in a camp trailer outside the residence when the shootings occurred, Liedle said.
According to reports, Swanson was waiting at the door of the residence when emergency crews arrived.
Her children were located in their beds inside — both were dead at the scene, Liedle said.
Liedle said a firearm believed to have been used in the shootings was recovered at the family home, but officials will await the results of the autopsies to determine whether it was, in fact, the murder weapon.
Court documents indicate that Swanson’s 20-year-old son reported to authorities that his mother had a .38 Smith and Wesson gun in her possession when she placed the 911 call, but Liedle would not confirm whether that was the same make of gun seized at the scene.
Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Sam McCormack said Monday morning that a motive for the killings was sketchy.
However, he said that Swanson and her husband had argued last week about Swanson’s decision to enroll the two children in school in Augusta — Gene Swanson wanted his wife to continue to home school the kids on the ranch while she wanted them to attend public school.
The children attended their first classes at school in Augusta last week.
Exactly.
Correlation and causation are not the same thing. But what the hell, any stick to beat the competitors to the government children's penitentiaries will do.
"When mothers with a GED insist on home schooling their kids I get pretty worked up."
Let me explain, First the GED is a standard set by public school curriculums. I home school. My daughter wants to join the armed forces when she is finished with her home schooling. Now here is where the flaws in that statement come out, in order for my daughter to join the service she may have to take the GED in order to be accepted. This in no way means she is less intelligent. So what happens when she wants to home school her children? (assuming she does not attend college) this means she will be home schooling mother with a G.E.D.
~Also many people who I know have taken this very same test are no less intelligent or any less equipped to teach children that public school teachers. Heck, some public school teachers aren't even certified. And some of the certified public school teachers are incompetent compared to GED home schooling mothers/fathers. And yes some Home schooling parents with real high school diplomas may be less prepared than some uncertified teachers.
My point is this, judging someone's ability to home school based on a GED, high school diploma, or because they don't have some formal training that someone else thinks is a requirement is wrong. Most home school parents, regardless of how they completed school have not been formally trained in educational techniques. This does not make them less capable. Home schooled children, with their testing scores (I think) prove this.
Joe, I agree that high school drop outs that never continued or finished their schooling shouldn't teach. But A GED is not something that should bar someone from teaching their own children. Isn't passing the G.E.D. proof that you have passed the basic requirements of public school 1st thru 12th grade?
I know, I remember when I first heard she had home schooled, I shook my head and thought "here we go..."
And finding that point will be tougher than finding a needle in 100 haystacks. The lines that divide parental authority and government authority are fought over like a skirmish line between armies of equal strength.
In Massachusetts the average is around $60k. The whole thing is a scam.
"~Also many people who I know have taken this very same test are no less intelligent or any less equipped to teach children that public school teachers"
I meant to say; "any less equipped to teach children than some public school teachers"
Cool. My daughter tested at the 97% for math. Reading and grammar was 82%...national standards. :o)
Guess again friend. Who's doing the measuring and by what standard are they measuring. Maybe we should use a standardized test put together by homeschoolers, that requires all public school kids to be homeschooled if they fail to meet minimum standards.
So in other words, she was mentally ill and couldn't handle it. So, lets either put her on death row, or sterlize her and put her in a mental institution for the rest of her life.
By CAROLYNN BRIGHT, IR Staff Writer - 08/27/02 ***
Very good point, MissMillie. The actual article title is as read above. Cholera Joe chose to make a derogatory point about homeschooling.
you, honey, are dumber than nine chickens.
How many that attended public or private schools were killed by their teachers?
Yep your right, reeeeeeaalllly safe, how about a public school like say " Columbine?">sarcasm/<
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